The Fight of a Champion
by Alexander Lupin
Summary: Ash had a big fight with all of his friends and moved away from them for their own safety. Now he is about to fight the Kanto Elite Four with evil forces about to strike. Will he able to defeat them all? Advanceshipping ,gymshipping ,dawngary
1. Chapter 1

Chapter-1 : Preparation

Ash Ketchum was nervous. This was the first time he was battling an important battle without the support of his friends. Sure, he had defeated a lot of powerful trainers without them. But that was different. Now he was battling the Kanto Elitte Four and he kept looking at his close friend, Pikachu, for encouragement. He was saddened to think about the incidents which took place a year ago. That seemed a long time ago...

"Pika pika" said pikachu

"Yeah sorry pikachu, I was thinking about THAT..."

"Pika pika pi"

"Ya your right... I should concentrate more for this upcoming battle..."

_Ash had cut off all contact with his friends after his disastrous fight with them. Although he regretted it now, he knew there was no turning that, he had once again travelled all over the four regions, training his old pokemon and capturing new ones... He had now challenged the kanto elite four and had an upcoming battle with Will. He now lived as a wanderer, travelling between towns on his Pidgeot and Charizard. Since Prof. Oak had upgraded his pokedex for him, he was now allowed to carry more than six pokemon. Now he had all of his pokemon with him, except his other 29 tauros, which he had left with his mom. _

"**Now who should I choose for the battle..."**

"Pikachu, definitely..." The yellow rodent scrambled over to him

"Charizard your in" The red dragon expressed his happiness by burning him.

"Sceptile you too" The lizard put a twig in his mouth and smiled.

"Glaile, I'll be needing you"

"Blastoise, you 're my choice"

All of his other pokemon looked upon him with expectation in their eyes... But everyone knew who the last one was gonna be, since will was a psychic trainer.

He recalled his final pokemon into its ball and turned west to look at the setting sun. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and he knew it.

He recalled all of his pokemon into their balls, with the exception of Pikachu of course, and settled into his sleeping bag, dreaming about his upcoming battle.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter-2

"In the finals of the Johto Grand Festival, we have May Maple going against Drew. Both co ordinators have put on a tremendous show in the previous rounds and deserve to be here. Now, choose your pokemon!"

"Go blaziken! Take the stage!"

"Finish this off soon, Roselia!"

"Blaziken start this off with a Flamethrower!"

"Roselia you know what to do"

May smirked as she knew that a direct hit from her blaziken would be enough to finish this off. But she was shocked when she saw Roselia using a water gun to counter it.

"I've been training my roselia for this battle, a long time. I knew you would be using blaziken so i thought a little surprise wouldn't hurt!'

"Roselia, water gun". It was a direct hit.

May was shocked. She didn't know how to counter points dipped to under a half and blaziken was badly hurt. But this was one of the scenarios she practised in. And blaze was activated just in time. This got her confidence up high , after all she too had a trump card up her sleeve. From ash's charizard.

"Blaziken, go up close to roselia and finish this off. We've been practising for this for too long a time."

"Roselia, water gun again!" Roselia used water gun and it seemed that the match was all but over. But at the last moment, blaziken jumped and got close to roselia.

"Now use blast burn!". Everyone at the stadium were shocked because only a few pokemon knew how to use blast burn and it could only be learnt at a high level. Roselia was hit and the match ended with a single hit from blaziken. Roselia was down for the count.

"And the winner of this year's Grand Festivel is May Maple from Petalburg City! Give a big hand for her!"

May Maple was one of the best co-ordinators in the world. She had just won the Johto Grand Fesival and was being congratulated by her parents and all of her friends. But not all her friends were there. She was missing a certain someone. One she had learnt to love a lot. She and all her friends had searched for Ash, but without avail. They coudnt find him anywhere.

"It's like he just disappeared into thin air. I just hope he's all well". She said to her Eevee.

Eevee was also saddened by the disappearance of Ash, albeit for a different reason. She really liked Ash's Pikachu, and so she tried her utmost best to find him. But the trail ended at the base of and all they found was Ash's cap. They knew that Ash would never part with his cap and something bad would have to crop up for him to abandon his precious cap. Something very bad. Moreover,at the place where they found the cap, the mountain was unscalabe. So there was no other way. It was like he simply disappeared. The police had declared him dead. But his friends were determined to find him, under a firm belief that he was still alive. They didn't know how right they were.

It was from an unlikely source that they learnt that he was alive. The Team Rocket trio of James, Jessie and Meowth were experts in tracking Ash and his gang. Even they were perturbed by his disappearance, for it was partly because of them that he fought with his friends. They tried their level best to find him, but they could only find out that he was well and truly alive.

After Ash's disappearance, all his friend's started to become more and more close with each other. Misty started to hang out with Brock, though neither of them acknowledged that they liked each other. Gary started to hang out more with them , though only Brock knew that he was there only to be with Dawn.

"This deserves a party on a grand scale! " roared Norman.

"Yeah right, already she has a big head and this just helps to make it even bigger." Said max, with a smirk.

"Awww max, don't be so harsh on your sis!" scolded misty as she held on to his ear

"What? I was just joking!" exclaimed max.

"Now you know what it feels like!" said Brock, the former gym leader, quite smugly.

" It almost feels like you enjoyed misty holding onto your ear" teased Dawn.

Brock's and misty's face turned beet red. Secretly, both felt the same way as the other. But they just couldn't come to tell each other that. "It's not like that" exclaimed both of them, at the exact same moment.

"See, more proof of that" said Dawn, quite happy with herself.

"Enough of this. I don't see May anywhere. Did any of you see where she went?" asked Caroline

"She was here just about a minute ago" said Gary

"I think she went to the cliff. She's started to hang out there a long time." Said Misty

"I think we should just leave her alone. Give her some time to think. Alone." Said Norman, with a firm voice.

"Ya, I'm just too tired today. I'm going to sleep. Good night everyone."said Caroline.

"Me too"

"Me three"

"Well, that's settled then. We'll have the party tomorrow then." Said Brock.

Everyone went to their respective rooms, leaving May to gaze at the moon.

Little did they know that tomorrow they wouldn't even be there in Ever Grande City.


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviews anyone? Because this is my first fanfic and any suggestions would be appreciated**

Chapter-3

May woke up to find the first rays of the sun fall upon her.

"Where am I?" She asked herself. Then she remembered where she was. This was the place where she saw Ash on his Pidgeot in the sky. Or what she thought it was. After poking around in the woods around Ever Grande City, She found out that there was a flock of pidgey's in the forest and came to the conclusion that the pidgeot was most probably from the flock. Though deep down she hoped that it was otherwise. She still remembered that day...

"_Our boss has sent out a number of assassins to kill you, twerp. He also asked us to kill you. But we felt that it was overboard. So we just wanted to warn you, twerp. It would help if you lie low for a while." Said Meowth._

_Ash, May , Max and Brock were camping out when they saw Team Rocket scramble out of the bushes. At first they were surprised when they heard that they just wanted to talk. But as meowth went on, things started to get complicated._

"_Guys, I want you go on without me. I don't want you to be in danger because of me. Whatever dangers come because of my actions, I will face it alone."_

"_But Ash, we're your friends. We'll stand by you at all times. We're not people who abandon friends in times of need!" exclaimed May._

"_I really mean it guys. I don't want to put any of you in danger. That's why im saying understand!"_

"_No Ash! We will not abandon you. We will come with you wherever you go" said Max, crying_

"_Max you understand the danger that comes with accompanying me. Stay safe."_

"_Fine Ash! If you don't want us to come with you, you could have just said it. There's no need to set-up an act like this with Team Rocket!" said May._

"_May! Don't talk like that! Ash would never do things that. Wouldn't you Ash?" asked Brock incredously._

"_Hey twerps! We're not that low and we're not for hire for acts!" said Jessie indignantly_

"_Fine! If you'll stop coming with me if it's like what you said May, then I don't want you to travel with me. I don't want to see you ever again! How could you be so mean! This is the last you'll hear of me for a long time. That is, if we ever meet again!" cried Ash and flew away on his Charizard, never to be seen again by any of his friends._

"How i wish i hadn't said those words" thought May

The only thing which gave his friends hope was the fact that they frequently received rumours about a young lad with a Pikachu destroying Rocket bases throughout the Kanto region. This led them to believe that Ash would come back to them after Team Rocket was disbanded. But it was not to be. Even after Giovanni was handed over to the police by an anonymous person, he still did not come. Max started to console himself by thinking that Ash had forgotten them.

But it was actually not like that. Ash always had them looked after by one of his flying pokemon. Staraptor, Swellow or Pidgeot. For he was anxious about the safety of his friends. For a reason known only to him.

**This chapter basically outlines why Ash does not keep any contact with any of his friends. The real story begins only in the next chapter. And reviews anyone?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Apologies to everyone**, **for taking such a long time to update**. I **now how that I'll be able to update regularly**. **Apologies again, for the mistakes. I'm typing this on my phone, so I hope you'll understand. **

Ash just sat there on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the churn of the waves. He could not force his mind to a state of calm. He kept think about his life, which had been nothing of a rollercoaster ride. His ever faithful Pikachu, hopped onto his head and cried,'' PikaPi!'' with joy. A smile came onto Ash's face as he stroked the head of his faithful companion. Pikachu cooed with delight. He looked at his Master and thought how much he had changed over the past few years. He was no longer the scrawny kid that he used to be. He had a body which would rival even that of Adonis. His voice had broken and he had become a tenor. But the most striking change was his hair. Due to the lack of contact with civilization, he had been forced to grow out his hair. He now had shoulder length hair. All that training he did along with his Pokemon had really taken it's toll on him.

The changes weren't only physical. He couldn't place it exactly, but his Master seemed different. He merely passed it off as a 'coming-of- age' thing.

Ash looked at his Pikachu straight into the eye and whispered gently,''Are you ready?''. Pikachu jumped up into his trademark pose. He was waiting for this battle for a LONG time.

**Scene change**

May just couldn't sleep. She had all kinds of nightmares about Ash, like him being eaten alive by a Snorlax. She woken up from one of those nightmares in a sweat. She had kicked her Ursarig doll off her bed. Though she was now a fully grown woman, a striking one at that, with 'everything' complete, she still hugged her doll while going to sleep. She picked up her doll and tried to sleep, wondering where Ash was. How she wished she was able to go back in time and change those moments.

**SC **

Ash was in one of his fits of anger. None of his Pokemon dared to go near him, except Pikachu. He was trying his best to calm down Ash. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to do it. Ash become a wreck ever since that 'female Growlithe' had left him. Like his Master, he was furious at her. None of Ash's other Pokemon knew about his 'experiences'. But Pikachu knew. He felt bad. And deep down, he knew that Ash felt the same. He somehow managed to 'convince' Ash to sleep with a 'little persuasion' because he knew that the next day would be an important day.

**The next day... **

Ash woke up the next day thinking about the previous night. He hit his head and groaned,''Oh shit!'' when he remembered what had happened. He made a mental note to learn to have a better control over his anger. He lazily got up and looked at the sky. The day was still young. He was looking ahead to his battle with the psychic.

**At The Elite Four.. **

Ash just strolled into the building as if it were any other gym. After all this time, He realized that being nervous doesn't really help in battle. He walked towards the receptionist who was sitting there reading a book. She hadn't really expected anyone to disturb her, because no one really challenged the elite four. Even if they did, she received news of their arrivals. So when Ash cleared his throat and started to say something, she literally jumped out of her skin. Ashe gave a quick lookover and decided that although she was definitely hot, he had other pressing matters on time and that she just wasn't worth the time. ''Umm, excuse me miss, but, I would like to challenge the Elite four'',said Ash. ''I'm sorry, but you need to have all the eight badges to challenge the Elite Four. But I'm sure we can do something else! I'm Dorthea, by the way!'' said the receptionist with a quick wink. Ash just sighed. He simply waved his badge case in front of her face and said,'' Now, can I make a formal challenge?'', he said with a smirk and added,'' I'm quite busy right now, maybe later'', noting the dissapointment and shock on her face. She managed to gather her wits and said,'' You seem to have all the badges. May I know the name of the challenger? ''. Ash stared at her with a blank face and said, '' Ashton Satoshi Ketchum''. As Dorthea wrote down his name, she somehow knew that the person standing in front of her was bound for great things.

**SC **

Brock woke up first among his friends. He shared a room with Misty and gently pushed her off his shoulder. She was still sleeping. He started searching for his dress and put it on without disturbing her. He went out for a quick snack when someone called out his name. He turned around and saw Nurse Joy rushing towards him. He thought of making a move, but rejected the idea when he thought of the last time he has done that. His head still hurt from Misty's smashing. But he became serious when he saw Nurse Joy's face. He realized that something was wrong. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Nurse Joy started stammering,'' Professor Oak... Unknown... situation... serious...''. He couldn't make out anything and put his arms around Joy and made her sit down. From what he had managed to hear, he realized that it concerned Professor Oak. After calming down, Joy managed to say,''It's Professor oak. He is in a serious health condition. Something happened to him and he is on the Verge of dying. ''

**Author's note: **

_Kindly bear with me. I know the story seems slow, but that's because I want it to be. I plan on making this a long one, so, that's why it's rather slow. Another thing, I know I said the pairing of Ash would be May, but now I have second thoughts on it. I've not decided on anything yet and I wanna see how the story develops, because I wanna introduce a new side of Ash. But I think I still prefer May over the others, mostly cuz she reminds me of a certain someone. :-P But the other pairings remain unchanged. _

_**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! IF YOU LIKE IT, SHARE! **_


	5. Chapter 5

_Updates are gonna come thick and fast in the next few months, I hope. These are my hols and I wanna make full use of it. But I can't write as much as I want due to my stupid special classes. gaurdian, Don't worry, the story is progressing as I want it to. Just read the title once more and then you'll know why it's progressing like this. :P Anyways, read and enjoy! REVIEW!_

Dorthea filled in all of the required details and requested ash to sign at the bottom. As he bent over to sign, He noticed Dorthea bending over in an awkward way. Smiling to himself, he simply signed it and gave the form to her. She was quite disappointed as all her efforts were in vain. She said,'' Wait in the Waiting Room for some time. I will organize the battle for you. Your first battle will be with Will. '' After saying this, she went towards the office. Ash sighed and prepared himself mentally for the upcoming battle.

**A few hours later... **

Ash stepped onto the Arena and felt a shiver down his spine. He was going to fight against them Elite Four. He was waiting for this moment for a long time. His opponent was Will. He knew that he specialized in psychic. So he had prepared meticulously for this battle.

His opponent Will entered the fray with a grace only found on psychic trainers and welcomed the challenger. "Welcome to the Pokémon League! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Will. I have trained all around the world, making my Psychic-type Pokémon powerful. And, at last, I've been accepted into the Elite Four. I can only keep getting better! Losing is not an option! But I sense something different from you. You give off a strange frequency of brain waves. Are you a psychic too?!''

''No . I'm not a psychic, though I wish I was.'', stated Ash calmly, before adding,'' Can we stop talking and start battling yet?!''

''Very well then . I now leave it up to the judge for announcing the rules. '' Said Will. But he was rather taken aback and was impressed by Ash's confidence.

Ash turned around and lo and behold, the judge was none other than Dorthea. ''The battle between Will, the Psychic Wizard and Ash Kethum, the handsome yet powerful trainer, is about to commence. The rules are simple. It will be a full six on six battle with both the trainers allowed to switch Pokemon in between the battle. '' announced Dorthea, literally drooling Over Ash. "The trainer will NOT be able to walk out of this challenge unless all of his pokemon have fainted. He has to battle the first three Elites in a row. However, he is allowed to rest his pokemon before battling the final Elite and the Champion, as those battles will take place only tomorrow. Any questions ?!"

**~~SC~~**

Brock nearly fainted when he heard those words. "What did you just say?!" he nearly yelled at Nurse Joy. "Yes! Professor Oak is literally on his death bed. Tracey is in a coma. No one knows how this happened! The postman found them lying on the floor when he went there to deliver a message. In addition, the entire laboratory was ransacked!". Brock was shocked, to say the least. He never expected anyone to attack the professor, as he was a real nice person. He thanked Jenny for delivering the news and went to his room to tell everyone of the misfortune.

When he reached the room, he found it empty. But he found a note attached to the door. "I'm ravenous. I will be at the Cafeteria. Meet me there. Love, Misty." Reading it and swearing to himself, Brock immediately rushed over to the cafeteria.

**~~SC~~**

Ash merely chuckled and sent out his first Pokemon. ''Glailie, I need your help!''. Will was surprised, as challengers usually waited for him to make the first move. But nevertheless, he too sent out his first Pokemon. ''Go Bronzong!''

''Glalie,use Shadow Ball!'' said Ash, with a calm demeanour. Glailie promptly responded by sending out a dark ball twice it's size. ''Bronzong, use psychic to control the Ball!'' commanded Will, almost scared by the size of the shadow ball. Bronzong tried it's best to stop it, but he was only able to slow it down. He took the attack head on. Will cursed his luck. Bronzong was already weak. He then commanded a Meteor Mash. Ash Ordered Glailie to move out of the way, but it was too late. Bronzong managed to hit Glailie. No sooner had it landed the hit that it fainted, exhausted from the after effects of the Shadow Ball. Glailie too fainted. Dorthea looked over the two Pokemon and announced, 'Both Glaile and Bronzong are unable to battle.'' Both the trainers recalled their Pokemon, with different thoughts. One was happy while the other was perplexed.

Ash waited for Will to send out his second Pokemon. ''Go Jynx!'' said Will. Ash realized that this was the time to get serious. ''Lend me your strength, Charizard!'' said Ash, as the giant lizard announced it's arrival with a huge roar. Will immediately realized that this was going to be a tough battle. ''You can make the first move Will!'' said Ash with a smile. With veins throbbing on his forehead, Will ordered a Blizzard, knowing that Charizard was weak to ice attacks. The temperature in the room immediately hit sub zero levels. But Charizard merely stood there, without any change. It was as if it were 's blizzard did nothing to charizard. Smirking, ash said, 'Now it's my turn!'' and ordered a Fire Blast. Immediately, the lizard Pokemon unleashed a giant stream of flame that completely covered Jynx. Will could do nothing about it. After the flames subsided, Junction was lying on the ground, fainted. ''Jynx is unable to battle. '' announced Dorthea. Will recalled Jynx with awe all over his face. Never had a trainer beaten his Junction so comprehensively. He somehow realized that he was fighting a losing fight. The next three battles were the same. Charizard wiped the floor against his Grumpig, Xatu and Slowbro, even when his slowbro had the type advantage. But he still had his final Pokémon. His strongest Pokemon by a long shot. ''We psychics don't give up even when we are fighting for a lost cause. That's what makes us so formidable. Become one with me, Gardevoir!''

**~~SC~~**

At the cafeteria, Brock found Misty and the rest of his friends sitting at a table. He ran over to the table, knocking over the trays of many disgruntled people in the process. Brock arrived at the table out of breath and it took him quite a while to regain his breath. The others were perplexed as to what had overcome Brock. "Sit down Brock! You look as though you ran a marathon!" said Misty. Brock sat down at the table with tears running down his cheeks. Everyone was mystified. Dawn managed to ask him," What happened Brock?! Is everything alright?!". "No! Nothing is alright! It's the Professor! He is on his deathbed!" cried Brock.

**~~SC~~**

A green Pokemon arrived on the battle stage with a grace. The sight of the Pokemon was breath-taking. But Charizard was never the Pokemon to back away from a fight. He shot a flamethrower at Gardevoir without Ash's command. But, Gardevoir's eyes glowed green just for a second and the flames disappeared into thin air. Ash could see that Charizard was tired. But he wanted to atleast weaken Gardevoir. So he ordered a Blast Burn. ''Charizard, use Blast burn!''. Charizard then let out a roar and unleashed flames so hot that Ash felt as if his pants were on fire. Will ordered his Gardevoir to Teleport. But a part of the flames hit Gardevoir before she could teleport out of danger. She came up behind Charizard. ''Now use Psychic!'' shouted Will. Her eyes glowed green before Charizard rose ten feet into the air and was thrown across the battle field. Dorthea examined charizard and announced,'' Charizard is unable to battle!''

Ash gritted his teeth and recalled Charizard. He was easily one of his strongest Pokemon. He then sent out his next Pokemon. "Go Blastoise!" . The turtle pokemon emerged out of it's pokeball and started glaring at Gradevoir . "Use Light Screen!" ordered Will. Gardevoir promptly put up a magical barrier in front of her. Ash cursed to himself knowing that now, Blastoise's special attacks won't do much damage. "Knock it over with Skull Bash!" shouted Ash . Blastoise started rushing headlong into Gardevoir. "Double Team!" ordered Will. Immediately, numerous copies of Gardevoir were created. Blastoise was confused and stared at Ash. Ash decided to take a gamble. "Hydro Pump on all the copies!" said Ash, knowing that it had to land a hit on the original. The giant turtle immediately stood on all fours and a jet of water started to gush out of its cannons. The jet struck all of the copies, and in the end ,only one Gardevoir was remaining. But Blastoise was recovering from its attack. "Get in close and finish it with a Thunder Punch!" shouted Will. Gardevoir immediately rushed towards Blastoise with a blinding speed and struck it with a Thunder Punch. Electricity surged through the turtle pokemon's body and it promptly fainted. "Shit!", swore Ash. But he still had three Pokemon as compared to Will's one. He decided that he had to finish this battle now. He could not afford to lose any more Pokemon.

**~~SC~~**

Everyone at the table were immediately shell-shocked . "What the fuck are you blabbering?!" yelled Misty. "It's true Mist! Nurse Joy told me this!" stammered Brock. He could perfectly understand her reaction. Professor Oak was one of the most respected person in the whole of Kanto. "If what your saying is true, then we should immediately go to Pallet Town" said Misty, through her tears. Brock put the red-haired trainer's head on his shoulders and said, "Yes, we are going to Pallet Town.".

**Author's note:**

_So how was this chapter?! Liked it?! Sorry I had to shuttle between Ash and the others. I had to forward both the parallel events at the same time, and I could not devote an entire chapter to either one because both of them are equally important. You'll find out the significance of both as the story continues. Special mention to those who can pinpoint a special line in this chapter. It has ENORMOUS significance. __ Till then, farewell._

_**PLEASE SHARE IF YOU LIKE IT! REVIEWS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys! I'm back with the next chapter! To start off with, I would like to thank all of the people who took time to review my story! I really appreciate it! And second, it seems the number of views for the last chapter somehow dropped! I dunno if I did anything to anger my readers, so I would be happy if anyone pointed it out to me. To make some clarifications, Ash hasn't disappeared or anything like that. He just isn't talking to the gang anymore. More explanations come later! :P Well, onto the story!_

Ash knew that he had to finish this battle. He couldn't let any other of his Pokémon faint. ''Become one with the dark!'' yelled Ash as he threw the Pokeball. The Pokeball opened with a flash of light and out emerged an intimidating dragon with three heads. ''Hydregion! Finish this quickly'' yelled Ash over the roar of his Pokémon. Will was stunned. That Hydregion was one of the biggest Pokémon he had ever seen. The three heads shook in tandem as realized that this dragon was well trained.

Will ordered Gardevoir to execute a Thunder, as he knew that psychic attacks were useless. Thunder clouds emerged over the battlefield as there was a massive transfer of electrons from the earth. Ash merely shook his head and shouted, '' Hydregion! Use a Dark Bomb!''. Immediately, a dark blob was formed in front of the dragon's mouth. It flew with struck Gardevoir full on and Gardevoir was immediately sent flying. It struck the wall on the other side of the Arena with such a force that the wall collapsed. After the dust subsided, Gardevoir was lying on the ground unconscious. Dorthea immediately announced, '' Gardevoir is unable to battle. The victory goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and he will be allowed to battle the next Elite.''

Will recalled his Gardevoir without a word and shook his head. He headed over to Ash and congratulated him on his victory. ''You were really amazing. I think you are bound for great things. I hope you will fulfil your full potential. I look forward to our next battle. Till then, farewell!'' said Will with a smile and went off without waiting for his reply. Ash looked over at Pikachu and gave a triumphant look. '' We've just crossed the first hurdle! We have three more to go!'' said Ash with a know- it- all look. He was looking forward to the next battle.

**~~SC~~**

It was with a great sense of sadness that the gang made their way to Pallet Town. Professor Oak was like a teacher to all of them. They couldn't even imagine the chaos that would take place if he passed away. All his knowledge, his research, would simply be lost to the world. They made their way to Pallet Town by the fastest means of transport available: flying. Gary had simply teleported there with his Alakazam as soon as he had heard the news. Brock was afraid as to how he would take the news. He kept his fingers crossed.

**~~SC~~**

Ash immediately took out the potions from his backpack and started to heal all his Pokémon. He knew that it would improve their health, but he couldn't do anything about their tiredness. He had to finish the next battle fast. The next battle was against Koga and he knew he had to be careful. Dorthea came over to him and said, "That was amazing battle, Ash! I didn't expect you to be such a powerful trainer. Your Hydreigon was especially powerful!" Ash simply smirked and said, "Oh, it was nothing!" as the three headed dragon roared out its name. "No! I'm serious! It takes some effort to evolve a Deino into a Zweilous! I can't even imagine how hard it was to evolve him!" said Dorthea with hearts in her eyes. Ash simply shrugged his shoulders and asked, "When is the next battle?", changing the subject. "Trainers are allowed an hour rest before their next battle with Koga." "That means I'm gonna take a powernap. Please wake me up" replied Ash as he decided to doze off.

**~~SC~~ **

As Dawn made her way into Professor Oak's laboratory, she gasped at the large crowd of people who were standing in front of the lab. Officer Jenny was having a hard time managing the crowd. When she saw May, she immediately recognised them and allowed them to enter the lab. The lab was a total mess. All the computers were broken and papers were strewn all over the place. Dawn felt like crying when she saw the place. Brock immediately put a hand to her shoulder and whispered," You have to stay strong, Dawn!". Dawn immediately understood and somehow managed to contain her tears. The Professor had been in such a critical situation that he could not be taken to the nearest hospital in Viridian. Luckily, he had a mini-hospital in his lab. He was lying on a bed, motionless with wounds all over his body. It looked as though he was struck with a powerful flamethrower. His skin was charred. But he was still breathing. Tracey was in a slightly better situation. But he was in a state of comatose and the doctors did not know when he would recover. But the most shocking sight of all was Gary. He was sitting next to his grandfather's bed and a single look on his face was enough to tell that he was affected by these incidents real badly. Even Brock did not know what to do. May, Misty and Dawn merely looked on in disbelief as Gary, who was never one to be controlled by his emotions, was crying.

**~~SC~~**

The break was over and Ash stepped onto the battlefield to face Koga, the Poison Master. Koga made his usual introductions. "Fwahahahaha! I am Koga of the Elite Four. I live in shadows-a ninja! My intricate style will confound and destroy you! Confusion, sleep, poison... Prepare to be the victim of my sinister techniques! Fwahahahaha! Pokémon are not merely about brute force-you shall see soon enough!"

Dorthea was again the referee for the battle. "This will be full six on six battle between Ash from Pallet Town and Koga of the Elite Four. Both the trainers are allowed substitutions and the first trainer to knock out all of the opponent's Pokémon wins the battle. Will the trainers please send out their Pokémon?!"

Ash face slapped himself and decided to start the battle. He sent out his first Pokémon. "I choose you, Glaile!" said Ash as the Pokemon emerged out of its Pokeball with a roar. The temperature immediately dropped a couple of degrees. Koga too decided to send out his Pokémon. "Go Skunktank!" cried Koga. Ash immediately knew that this was going to be a tough battle as Koga had the type advantage. But he was always up for a fight.

Ash decided to start off all guns blazing and ordered Glaile to start off with an Ice Beam. But Koga saw that attack coming and ordered an attack of his own. "Skunktank, use Dig to dodge to evade the attack!" yelled Koga. Skunktank promptly dug a hole and disappeared into the ground. Ash decided to take advantage and yelled," Glaile, Use Hail!" as Glaile sent a ball of ice into the air and suddenly, it started hailing. Ash knew that when Skunktank came out of the ground, he would immediately take damage. But he was in for a surprise as Koga shouted, ''Use Sludge Bomb without coming out! '' Purple coloured sludge came out of the hole through which Skunktank had entered the ground. It was a direct hit On Glaile. It didn't do much damage. But, Glaile was poisoned. Ash gritted his teeth. Skunktank emerged out of the hole and completed the Dig attack. Dig caused much more damage and Glaile started panting from exhaustion. Before Ash could react, Koga ordered, ''Skunktank, Use Earthquake!" The powerful Ground attack hit Glaile hard and he was on the verge of fainting. Knowing he had been out maneuvered, Ash decided to throw it all in and closed his eyes. He didn't like to see his Pokémon get hurt. ''Glaile, use Self Destruct!" . Glaile immediately glowed with a sinister glow and blew itself up without a single thought. Such was its love for Ash. After the dust settled, both Pokémon were lying on the ground with twirls in their eyes. Dorthea immediately declared, ''Both Pokémon are unable to battle!''. Ash withdrew Glaile with pain evident in his eyes. Koga noted this and remarked,'' Your love for your Pokémon touches me. But I'm not going to go easy on you cuz of that. Let's go, Crobat!''. ''Take the field, Pikachu!''. Both the Pokemon entered the battlefield with determined looks. They wanted to win it for their trainers.

**~~SC~~ **

Brock immediately took control of the situation at hand. The three girls were too shocked to react. They were simply sitting down next to the Professor's bed, weeping. Brock knew that Gary would've taken Oak's attack really seriously and wanted to comfort him. So he went over and put his hand on Gary's shoulder. But he didn't expect his reaction.

"Get your fucking hand off me! I don't want your condolences. Just fucking leave me alone!" yelled Gary with such contempt that Dawn, who was the youngest, screamed. "Gary, calm down! We are only trying to help" Said Brock in a calm manner. " I don't want you! I don't want your help! I don't want anyone! The only person who I had in this world is... almost….. D E A D!" screamed Gary and ran off crying.

Even though Gary was Ash's rival, he wasn't like Paul. Gary's rivalry with Ash was unlike anything Brock had ever seen. Even though they had fought fiercely, they both were very close. Gary was one of the few persons Ash still talked. So putting things into perspective, Brock had come to the conclusion that Ash was the only friend Gary had in this world. This was bad considering the fact that Professor Oak was his only relation to the world. Gary would need to pour out his emotions, in a right way, to start feeling good. Otherwise he risked losing his sanity.

"Brock! We have to follow him!" yelled May. "Yeah Brock! He might harm himself or something! The Professor is not yet DEAD! He is still alive!" shouted Dawn, starting to run after Gary. Seeing Gary break down had made something to snap inside Dawn. She rushed after him. But Brock easily caught up with her and held her back. He shook his head and said," Let him be. He needs his time alone." Misty too caught up with him and seconded with him." Yeah Dawn, death is a part and parcel of life. He has to accept this sooner or later. There's no point holding on to a small hope and seeing it fade at the last minute. Look at the Professor! Do you think there's any way he's gonna recover from that?! The sooner Gary lets his emotions out, the better." advised Misty. Realizing that there was no point arguing with them, Dawn sat down. All of them were tired from the travel to Pallet Town. But none of them slept. They spent the whole night worrying about Gary.

Gary ran. He didn't know where he was going. He simply ran to the place where his legs took him. Recognizing the meadow, he fell down on the grass and started crying. "OH Grandpa! Please don't leave me!" howled Gary. As a HootHoot hooted in the darkness, Gary's cries brought many Pokémon to the meadow. They were saddened by the sorrow in his cries. Even the darkness of the night paled in comparison to Gary's sorrow.

_How'd you all like this chapter?! I didn't think any of you expected Hydreigon to be Ash's sixth Pokemon! Well, I hope you all liked this chapter anyways. So I'm signing off. A bientot! :P_

_DON'T FORGET! SHARE AND REVIEW!_


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